In general, there are two types of interface connections: serial interface connections (i.e., SERDES (Serializer/Deserializer configurations)) and parallel interface connections. The serial interface connection is the current standard for communication between chips through substrates or boards, providing medium to long distance, high frequency signals. The parallel interface connections, on the other hand, are used for large number of very short, low frequency signals. For example, base-station architecture can benefit from a low power parallel interface as it can provide lowest power dataconverter integration, amongst other benefits.
There is a movement in the industry to reduce the amount of power used for signal connections. There is also a need to continuously increase the amount of bandwidth between chips; however, bandwidth is limited by amount of available chip edge. Current interface technologies, though, cannot accommodate both reduced power usage and increased high bandwidth between chips.